Shareef Al-Shadid
Shareef Al-Shadid was a scholar-leader of the pan-Arabic group Arabic Movement for Independence, and was one of the opponents of the nascent Socivm Amicorvm. He was killed in the Battle of Antiocheia, which spelled the doom for the Arabic movement. His son, Usuma Al-Shadid, is one of the exiles who accompanied by Kallistrata, and the founder of the Islamic Quarter in Arche that encompassed the entirety of Meizotere Hellas. Early Life Shareef was born to the Al-Shadid family, which had a proud history of being a family of scholars in the Abbasid period. As such, the Al-Shadid family members were usually erudite, and expected Shareef to be erudite as well. To that matter Shareef was very successful, tackling many subjects like philosophy and military history with ease. Al-Shadid family was a stalwart supporter of the Neo-Mu'tazila, which was the premier Islamic liberal movement that spawned from the Tolu-e-Islam, which drew the ire of more fundamentalist neighbors. He graduated soon after from the King Saud University, rather unsurprising as the Al-Shadid were fairly open to secularism. Of course, the Al-Shadid was ultimately Muslim, and Shareef was given Islamic studies as well after graduation. Freedom Fighting However, the big fatcats of the capitalist countries soon subverted some of the more corporatist governments to their whims, and it was the oppression of his former neighbors at Najran that led him to create the Brotherhood against Usury. Being a moderate with strong rationalist tendencies, Shareef's organization did not have a solid appeal to the more conventional majority, gathering only a small number of followers largely from bodies of fellow moderates or from those that suffered from the exploitations of the fatcats. Brotherhood against Usury initially chose the non-violent methods, citing the success of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. This made them a common plaintiffs at the courts, but it was only partially successful in curbing the fatcats. The death of King Fahd was a perfect opportunity for the fatcats to subvert Saudi Arabia, and with political sleights successfully placed the puppet king Omar to the throne, effectively countering the Brotherhood strategy. To that matter, Shareef chose a more violent approach, as the fatcats clearly did not come as neighbors but as takers. With this shift, the Brotherhood organized raids amongst fatcat-owned oil fields, seizing oil and cutting pipelines to prevent the oil from filling the pockets of the fatcats. However, the Brotherhood chose to do this in secret, believing their scale not large enough or achievements not strong enough to appeal to a big portion of the population. Great Arab-Israeli War However, the fatcats decided to take a new strategy which was rather similar to how the European traders dealt with the warring kingdoms of Africa. The fatcats vigorously sponsored the most xenophobic segment of the Zionist group, and with them coming to power, Israel invaded Golan Heights, triggering the Great Arab-Israeli War. Needless to say, most Arabic groups denounced the Israeli aggression, and neighbors invaded Israeli very similarly to the scenario in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, as did militant organizations like the Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda. As did the European traders in the African Slave Trade, the fatcats also sold military equipments to the Arabic side as well. Shareef's Brotherhood was still largely limited to driving what they believed was unjust economic activity from the southwestern Saudi Arabia. Ironically, it was the extremist Al-Qaeda that sought out a negotiation with the Brotherhood, which grew fairly rich from vending oil seized from the fatcats. The Al-Qaeda hoped to gain use of Brotherhood personnels given the experience they garnered from combatting paramilitary groups stationed to defend oil fields for the fatcats, and offered recognition of the Brotherhood and immediate halt to antagonization of more liberal Muslims in return for cooperation, most importanly the Brotherhood involvement in the war. Shareef chose to agree on the condition that the Brotherhood get to decide on the cooperative actions, and Al-Qaeda accepted, as the Great Arab-Israeli War did not go well for the immediate neighbors of Israel, many of which suffered from heavy losses to the Israeli army. Soon, Al-Qaeda agents visited Brotherhood depots, arming themselves with weapons that the Brotherhood garnered from the paramilitary forces while taking some of the more eager Brotherhood members with them to the battlefield. Although the Brotherhood squads did quite well against the Israeli troops, the Brotherhood successes were largely limited to defensive actions in the form of guerilla warfare in the occupied territories of the Arab countries, resulting in a shaky stalemate. Ideology Shareef is a moderate (and read liberal in Muslim spectrum) who grasped the western perception of Islam quite well: Shareef understood that a change in attitude was needed to improve the perception held by the outsiders. Given that, Shareef was against the idea of a theocracy without a system to evaluate interpretations of the scriptures. In fact, Shareef preferred democracies, stating that secularism was necessary especially for science to progress: After all, if Allah created the world and this is how the world works, how is learning how things operate an affront to him? Given Shareef's rationalist bent, this fairly unorthodox approach to Islam was not well-received by a good portion of his contemporaries. In fact, being for secularism was all that was needed for some to brand him "atheist," a claim that would seem preposterous but a popular one amongst Shareef's less rational detractors. Nonetheless, Shareef had his share of supporters as well: Shareef was a popular figure amongst ex-Jihadists such as those formerly affiliated with Ahmad Shah Massoud given the civil behaviors and discipline of the central forces of the Brotherhood. Given Shareef's disdain for rape, pillage, etc. that was a part of the romance with dissident leaders such as Spartacus, Shareef also has some supporters in the West in a manner similar to the Hezbollah. Like the Hezbollah, Shareef is quite liberal on women's rights: Muslim women in Brotherhood territories are acknowledged the right to drive, get advanced education, go out alone, have leadership positions (although it is a rarity even in Brotherhood's core provinces), and not be required to wear the traditional clothes (although it is encouraged by the Brotherhood). While the Brotherhood may go prostitute-shaming and brothel-hunting, women in general preferred the new Brotherhood rule over the old more fundamentalist regimes. While the power of women in the former Brotherhood's core provinces were still fairly limited, as opportunity for women were still very limited due to the pre-existing mindset of the people, it was certainly better than say old Saudi Arabia where women were not allowed to drive. Category:Characters